Red Cross: Give Blood, Win A Car

The local region of the American Red Cross is hoping that a convertible giveaway will help bring in donors and raise the levels of dangerously low blood supplies.

As is usually the case each summer, blood supplies for the Red Cross's Mid-Atlantic Blood Service Region have taken a nose dive.

The region includes Hampton Roads as well as central Virginia and eastern North Carolina.

As of Thursday, three blood types - O positive, O negative and B negative - were at emergency levels, said Red Cross spokeswoman Amy Eaton. Four types - A positive, A negative, B positive and AB negative - were listed as restricted. Only supplies of AB positive were considered adequate.

An emergency level means that there is less than a one-day supply, while a restricted level means less than a three-day supply.

The Mid-Atlantic region normally likes to have at least 1,887 pints of all types of blood on the shelves, Eaton said. That's a three-day supply. On Thursday, there were just over 1,000 pints.

"We were doing OK until Memorial Day weekend, and then [supplies] really plummeted," Eaton said.

While hospitals have not yet had to cancel elective surgeries because of the blood supplies, that could happen if supplies don't increase soon, Eaton said.

Other blood services regions - such as the midwest, which has been plagued with bad weather and flooding - are also having trouble with blood supplies. With its low supplies, the Mid-Atlantic region is unable to share blood with other regions, Eaton said.

Summer vacations and hot weather seem to lessen the numbers of people who give blood. So earlier this month, the Mid-Atlantic region launched a campaign to get donors by offering a chance to win a red 2008 convertible Pontiac Solstice.

Every time a donor signs in to give blood or platelets though Oct. 1, he or she is registered to win the car.

Four runners-up will win $500 in free gas.

Blood donors must be at least 17 years old, weigh at least 110 pounds and be in general good health. An eligible donor can give every 56 days.